I am not sure where to start with this review other than this book gave me the feels. It has been a while since a book caused me to put it down and physically walk away from it while verbally responding to it because of what happened - in this case it was me walking away repeating "no" over and over again while running into a different room. I am very prone to suffering from secondhand embarrassment, especially if I am invested in what I am involved in (book/movie/tv show), and this book had me suffering from that twice! The second time I just crossed my arms, dealt with the goosebumps, and tried to not start crying. All of this to be said, I finished this book in about 5 hours, desperate to know that Kole made it out of everything ok and got her happy ending. Let's just say I teared up at the ending in the best way.

I have read other books like this before, but there was something about this one that has put it over the top compared to the others. I don't think I can pinpoint what it was that Kingman tapped into with this book that made it that much more enjoyable than the others I read, but I think the honesty that was written into this book really brought it to a different level. Kole is a very relatable character to anyone who had a "weird" hobby in high school, was just trying to get by and didn't feel like they fit in. The characters all felt well-rounded and I had feelings/opinions about all of the characters, even ones that appeared only for a page.

I don't want to say too much about the actual plot because this isn't a completely unpredictable book, but I don't find that to be a major flaw. Sometimes there is comfort in the predictability, especially when there are still elements of the unknown. Even reading an uncorrected proof of this book didn't limit my enjoyment of this story, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is drawn in by the cover or the plot description.

3/5✨: I'll be honest, I'm no quite sure how I feel about this book. I was invested in the story, where we follow Kole on her journey into proving that she is more than just a fanfic writer all the while taking drastic measures to make sure no one knows.She even finds herself in the mist of her own love triangle and ship wars, which she previously thought only happened in fiction. Like I said, I was invested in the story but I can't tell if it was because I liked it enough to care or if my curiosity on how the story ends beat out the cringe favor of the content.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this story was bad. I had fun reading it and I got so deep that I finished it all in one setting. I also have a soft spot for stories about writers. But it was made for a specific audience in mind. One I was apart of for a while too. But tastes grow and I don't think I found myself relating to the story or characters but that doesn't mean others won't. I just think if you're not the exact target of this book, then you might not enjoy or appreciate the fun moments of this book.

On a personal note, while I thought the story was well written and I was interested in the events taking place, there were two factors that didn't vibe well with me and took this piece from a four to a three. Those two things are the actual fanfiction pieces and our main characters. Firstly, I wasn't bad about the fiction in the work, as it was nice to get an insight onto the topic the writer is working on if they spend most of the book writing. But after the first reads of the fanfiction, it became really clear that the blog updates had nothing to do with the story and I struggled to care about what was going on in an world I knew nothing about. After a while, the posts happened so often that I kind of glossed over a few. Second, I found Kole a might too unlikable in the beginning, as she came off a little pretentious and like her word is gospel. I found myself liking the two love interests more than her and I wanted better for them. I also didn't like the one eighty they did with the personality of one boy, just so it would make sense why she chose the other. It was a little outrageous.

Thank you to Netgalley and Flux publishing for an advanced free copy of Down With This Ship in exchange for an honest review!

This book had a few ups and downs, but overall was adorable as hell. It started strong, and I liked Kole for the most part, even if I just wanted her to grow a dang backbone. The fanfiction was cute, and the writing of fandom and the fanfiction just completely took me back to being a teenager and wanting to be in Kole's place! It was so relatable and enjoyable, I found myself both cringing and laughing whenever Kole and her friends would talk about it.

The middle of the book kind of dragged, and I ended up wanting to skim certain parts of the book. I debated about not finishing it, but I'm glad I pushed through because the end did pick up! The situation with Damien and Hayley though, it was just frustrating past a point of enjoyment and it made me want to shake Kole. It felt unrealistic, for me. The character of Damien in general felt unrealistic and it was frustrating to not have a resolution for him. He gets taken out of the convention, yeah, but it doesn't feel like a win for Kole? He's just going to keep behaving that way and making her miserable, which at least for Hayley she backed off and got a punishment.

The ending was cute though, I liked the parts with the convention and I was happy with how Kole and her mom fixed their relationship, and Kole knowing that her mom had her back. Kole and Colin were absolutely adorable, and I loved that they pushed each other to be better, even if Kole didn't appreciate it for a time! I know Ms. Kingman is a debut author, and overall honestly I enjoyed her first book a lot. I can't wait to see what she does in the future!

I found myself struggling to finish this book at certain points. The book is overall a good story, but Kole struggles to be likeable in a lot of ways. She is often mean to people around her and the reader is given very little backstory as to why, or the backstory is so flimsy that it made me cringe to hear her snark. It sometimes got better as the book moved on, but it was the first introduction to Kole that gave that impression, and that made it difficult to get beyond enough to enjoy her story.

At times, the author was fantastic at creating a writing style that felt like a YA book. Other times, it was very "adult trying to be a youth." But overall, the writing style flowed well. The insertions of letters and blog posts were really nice, and they didn't take over the book.

The loose ends were tied up very neatly in the end, and I suppose I did feel some small bit of satisfaction. The middle was really problematic with how much things built up, pushing way beyond the walls of believability. Almost a jumping-the-shark feel with how absurd the situations got.

My biggest problem with this book is just Kole herself. She's not a likeable character, even when she gets better as the book progresses. I still rooted for her, but she definitely made it hard at times. For example, anyone that had any criticism, even when said nicely, was a troll or a hater. As the book progressed, the comments got nastier, and it made more sense to use those words; however, when she first started calling people that, it was a bit overkill for people trying to interact with an author. Or, of course, when we first meet Kole, her entire schtick is hating anyone within her eyeline and thinking nasty things about them.

I wouldn't read this book again, but I do appreciate a book that tries to normalize fandoms and fanfiction.

This one is a little rough to review. It's a bit cheesy. It's a bit cute. It's a bit cringy. Honestly, that describes a lot of fanfic, if you think about it. Also, ew to irl ships.
I wanted to like this more than I did but I wasn't really a fan. I highly recommend Down With This Ship more to fanfic WRITERS over readers. But everyone should give it a shot. Maybe I'm just not the target audience.

Thank you to Flux and Netgalley for giving me the review opportunity.

I honestly couldn’t get through the first chapter of this book. It might be about fan fiction, but it reads like fan fiction and not a novel ready for publishing. Also, I feel like the forced diversity in Michaela’s character seemed super obvious from her introduction as a “black, bi goddess”

Kole Miller is an avid writer and a huge fan of the the television show The Space Game. She's more than that though. She's the anonymous writer behind Spacer, the most popular blog about the show and the repository of her own fanfiction. She's got a cute new neighbor, a best friend as obsessed with the show as she is, and a rival who may be something more than that. What could go wrong?

I really loved the premise of this book. The potential of a book with a main character who is immersed in fandom and fanfic is right up my alley. But this book did not engage me the way I expected. I thought I would love this book but I don't have such a strong feeling for it.

I didn't feel the characters were very three-dimensional. We don't get much back story on any of them. There are hints about Noah and Colin but not very much at all. Colin has signs of perfectionism and a challenging relationship with his parents but it's not explored much at all. And even Kole's relationship with her parents, which is hinted at, is not fleshed out much at all before the very end when it is. bit unexpected and rushed. I don't feel like these characters changed or developed much in the course of the book.

The love triangle felt a little forced at times and a bit unbelievable at others.

Damian was a character I felt was truly more of a caricature. I didn't like his stalkerish tendencies and I think making him from an overly religious family was a questionable decision. It was awkward to read.

I love that fanfiction and fandom were represented. They were really central to the plot itself. Which is why I was surprised that we don't see a more realistic portrayal of fandom here. I think some of the plot points revolving around that were too far-fetched and unrealistic. Particularly the con scenes at the end. It also made the interaction with other fans online very all or none--people were either gushing or "anti's" or bullies. This isn't how it usually is--there are so many shades of grey between those extremes. Fandom friendships and interactions are common and can be supportive and rich in camaraderie regarding the ship/show/fandom.

Overall I think this will be an enjoyable book to many. It has a good pace and an engaging idea. The writing is solid. There was body positivity and celebration of geek culture and supportive sibling interactions, which are all great. I did not personally connect to it as much as I expected to from the premise and my familiarity with fandom in general was a bit at odds with how it was portrayed here.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

Okay. This was absolutely adorable.

First, the characters were just 👌
And the relationships between the characters AHH
I loved to read and "see" how the relationship with her mother developed!! Her friendship with her BFF is actual goals!! Okay, that teacher though, please transfer to my school and teach me!! And the romance! AH adorable, nice enemies to lovers and allllllllll. The sort of taunting thing they have going on is very entertaining. Reminds me of like Tweet Cute or something :)

Second, the writing. I actually really really enjoyed the writing style of this book :)

Third, the plot. I also really really enjoyed the plot. It was mediocrely fast-paced. Like wasn't the MOST fast-paced book but it wasn't s l o w. It was a very good pace, actually.

I honestly don't know what else to write about this book. It was very cutesy and nice and fluffy to read. SOmething to brighten my day haha.

I loved this so much and highly recommend it to fans of Eliza and Her Monsters, Fangirl, The Extraordinaries :)

In the beginning I wasn't sure if this book would be enjoyable to me. It was hard to take the problem our main character Kole goes through seriously but the friendship and later relationship between Colin and Kole really made all the difference. It became a fun and lighthearted read that I ended up enjoying because of the cute moments they shared and I am sucker for academic rivals to lovers.

It also offered a lot of references to today's popular culture and as someone who has always been involved with in internet culture - it was cool. The book is a hit or miss depending on the demographic. It can be seen as cheesy but it's amazing for what it is and it shouldn't be taken too seriously. I recommend it as a light read.

Kole Miller spends every possible minute writing for her fan fiction blog, Spacer - aka fixing the mistakes made by the writers of her fave show The Space Game. But then, to her horror, other students in her Creative Writing class find out that she's the one behind the blog. They threaten to reveal her identity unless she does several things for them - and that includes writing a ship she doesn't love into her story.

I really thought I would love this. I am a real fiend for books about fandom and fanfic. I've read a lot of them - which is probably why I was disappointed with this one. Much of what happens in Down with this Ship has been done before and done better. It also reminded me quite strongly of the stories I've read on Wattpad - sooo many boys wanting to go to the dance with the lead, too many "and then they all clapped" moments, cardboard cutouts instead of characters (also what happened to the Journalism teacher?? She just disappeared??), and really squiffy logic.

I know I'm from an older fanfic era, but I still dabble in fandom (as a lurker only these days!). A lot of things just didn't match my experiences. And that was very jarring. Posting fanfic on a blog was a really odd choice for Kole (something like AO3 is more likely). But the one thing that really stuck out - show (and book) writers do NOT read fan fiction (for legal reasons).

Ugh. I don't know. Maybe these things don't or shouldn't matter. But they do to me. This all said, I think quite a few Wattpadders would enjoy it.

This book was just a lovely journey. I enjoyed it so much. I ship just about everything and this book was full of characters and moments. I think anyone who enjoys YA or just well written books will like this.

This was a cute story, but predictable and slow to start. I liked how the author weaved in the actual fan fiction excerpts. It was hard to get deeper into Kole's head at times and it also not a very convincing YA voice.

As a lover of FanFiction, I really enjoyed this book! It was fun and felt new, with a great cast of characters. My only complaint, and why I dropped to 4/5 stars, was that so much of the issues could have been averted if Kole just came clean about her writings. Somehow she thought she could appear on a public panel and still remain anonymous? It never crossed her mind that “hey, this hiding will be moot the second people see me in real life talking about my stuff”. It was just frustrating as a reader. However, I still loved this book and would visit it again.

This YA romance was super cute and enjoyable!! I loved how mid-way through there was a love triangle. I’m very glad at who the author decided to ship in this book!!! 4/5!

It was a really fun read and I truly enjoyed it. I love books that revolve around the theme of book blogging and fan fiction, although there aren't that many and so this was something I knew I definitely wanted to read. The many themes in the book were written and handled so well and I feel like this is a perfect YA read and I can tell it's going to gain a lot of popularity once it publishes. I could really relate to Kole and I truly loved her character, as well as her brothers (he's such a perfect brother, makes me wish even more than before that I had one). I loved the passion she had for writing fan fiction, I could relate to her when she won the award and how she acted because I act like that all the time if I get something I really wanted. It was really unique too. Like the fact that in most books, the main character, the love interest is some perfect person who basically looks like a model, which lets be real isn't what real life is like, and in this book, Kole was a geeky teenager. I also could understand what people must feel like to have people, especially your parents, not get what your thing is (ie in Kole's case, fan fiction writing). Overall, I think geeks, cosplayers, or someone who likes fan fiction and fandom or struggles with self confidence, esteem or putting yourself out there, would love this book

Fans of Rainbow Rowell’s FAN GIRL and Ashley Postin’s GEEKERELLA series— rejoice! This book made my heart abundantly happy!

Adorarable, geeky, and body positive - yay! A recommended purchase for YA and HS collections were titles like Fangirl and Geekerella are popular.

I love books about fandom, I’ve read dozens because I myself am a fan. There is no one I see myself in more than a character who is passionate about her ships and her fandoms. A character who cosplays, writes fanfic and falls in love with fiction. Down With This Ship had all the perfect pieces to make me fall in love with it, and somehow it just didn’t quite hit the mark.

Kole is a fan first and foremost. She’s in love with The Space Game, a television show that feels much like Star Trek/Fire Fly/Battle Star Galactica in inspiration. She writes a fanfic about it and chooses it over her friends and anything else that may come up. This show is her identity. I didn’t have a problem with that, I have known teens like that and even been one myself. That said I do feel like Kole is incredibly self-centered and never really learns a lesson? She gatekeeps her fandom and thinks knowing more minutiae makes her a better fan. She doesn’t see other people as whole people but rather only in the ways the inconvenience her.

For a book about ship wars, the love triangle was incredibly disappointing. There’s little time to develop both relationships and the solution is that one of the boys is Tamlin’d so that we know he was the wrong choice all along. He goes from a perfectly sweet possible option to a person Kole could never have actually been with while the other boy becomes a prince charming. It was such a weak love triangle I would question even including it. No character growth comes from it. No meaningful plot beats come from it…it’s just there.

Similarly to the love interests every character who isn’t Kole is one note. Everyone at Kole’s school is a bully aside from her small group of friends. Interests that aren’t “geeky” or “nerdy” enough are often written off. Students literally enact schemes to foil Kole and ruin her life. Teachers seem to not care about the students. It’s Kole against the world and no one else is allowed to be a complex human being lest we feel some sort of connection to them and realize that Kole’s personality is the reason she’s so alone. Kole is not a nice person. She’s not even that nice to her “friends”.

Fandom is one of the central themes of the book, and it just felt poorly represented to me. There were several plot points that read like bad dreams more than accurate depictions of fandom. I lived through both Twilight and Harry Potter eras. I have lived through SuperWhoLock. Never did I see an entire cafeteria participate in a ship war. Kole describes her show as something geeky that most people don’t care about…but EVERYONE is invested in it. Never did I see an entire school care about a single show so much (especially a science fiction one which definitely is more polarizing) and yet EVERYONE is invested in The Space Game and more weirdly…in Spacer.

Spacer is a fanfiction that Kole writes. It gets millions of hits which is…weird enough for a fanfiction. I did like that the fanfiction is interspersed throughout the book (even if it doesn’t seem like a very interesting fanfiction) to give us a taste about what Spacer is about but…the popularity of Spacer is unbelievable.I have never seen a fandom where one fanfiction is held to such esteem that literally everyone knows about it? Especially a fanfiction that has no smut written by a teen.

Also I find it INSANELY suspicious that Byron x Pippa and Cedric x Pippa are the main ships for the series and practically the only ones mentioned. That is not how fandom works. Look me in the face and tell me that the Byron x Cedric shippers would not outnumber all the ships including Pippa. There’s a reason Kirk x Spock is bigger than Uhura x either of them. The only fandom this resembles is Twilight and the reason Twilight worked how it did was because it was an entirely different genre with different expectations. The fact that no gay ships are ever even mentions seems almost exclusionary.

Speaking of the fanfiction I also found it a little sensitive how Kole interpreted people criticising her fanfiction at ALL as “bullying” and haters. We are allowed to see some comments in this story and even things like “The characters feel so flat and the development is awful.” is an “attack” to Kole. There are, of course, legitimate bullies but when you write something…people are allowed to criticize it. It doesn’t feel like Kole would survive this long in any fanfiction community if every criticism of her writing is taken as a personal attack.

The ending also didn’t sit well with me. SPOILERS BEYOND HERE!! Kole, a teenager, is treated like a serious writer for her fanfiction and offered the ability to work with the actual show writers. Also the whole cast reads the fanfiction and loves it. Also an ADULT MAN signed A TEENAGER’S collarbone IN LIPSTICK in this the year of our Lord 2021. So a few things. Actors may have been more friendly with guests in the past but a lot of recent events have made things like this A HUGE NO NO at cons for a few years now. Also Fanfiction has only recently become an acceptable hobby, and it’s still not widely respected. It was not even a decade ago that you might be sued for writing fanfic, in fact you STILL might be. It’s very hard to believe that the entire staff of a show would be in love with a fanfic and think it was better than their own work.

I liked some things about this book. I liked that it was body positive. I liked that it portrayed a geeky girl at the centre of a love triangle. I liked that it examined what it’s like to have parents not “get” your thing. It just feels like there was so much mess that I didn’t like that dragged the book down. I felt like the author didn’t truly understand fandoms and conventions. Or at least didn’t know how to write them realistically. I also took issue with the glorification of fat pets which left a sour taste in my mouth. Remember kids, overfeeding is neglect.

A fun, gracefully messy, accurate portrait of the intricacies of fandom in an age where social media exists. This book is full of friendships and relationships that are satisfyingly tangled and bittersweet. I don't think there's another book quite like this, and I absolutely adored it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with this ARC on NetGalley.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Down With This Ship.

This book tries so hard to be relatable that it sucks out any semblance of realism. Our protagonist, Kole, goes to a school full of super villains. Note that I don't call them mean kids or bullies because that's not what they are. They're comic book arcetypes stuffed into the high school setting. Since she's quirky and passionate about fanfiction and writing, this means she only has one friend (my personal theory has a lot more to do with her self centered personality but that could have just been me) but obviously also has multiple guys falling all over me.

I don't like how fast we as a culture are to call things targeted at teens cringy, but that's what this was. Not because it's pandering to teens or girls or anything, but because it goes so hard on all of its archetypes that you're left cringing at every other thing the protagonist does or says. Kingman isn't a bad writer. She has the YA contemporary romcom style down to a tea but this book just didn't work.

This last bit is a spoiler.

So from the get go it's very clear who Kole is going to end up with which is fine, but I really don't like how everyone else was swiftly vilified or made to look bad so we didn't have to pity them when Kole doesn't end up with them. For a book about ship wars, this was really bad at making realistic ships. Kole even has a few weird double standards that she uses as an excuse to not be with her first love interest but sees as romantic when Colin does it? (i.e. she calls out Nate for asking her out publicly and putting her on the spot but when Colin does the same thing with a much bigger audience it's her happily every after?)